Officer uses Taser to stop bridge-walker

CORONADO  A California Highway Patrol officer used a Taser to subdue a man believed to be drunk while he walked in traffic lanes onto the San Diego-Coronado Bridge Wednesday night.

The 23-year-old man was in Coronado when he started walking east shortly before 10 p.m., CHP Officer Jake Sanchez said.

Sanchez said the man walked in traffic to the former bridge toll plaza, where a CHP officer was parked. The officer told the man repeatedly to stop, and when the man kept walking, the officer fired his Taser at the man.

The man collapsed and was handcuffed, Sanchez said. He was taken to a hospital where the stun-gun barbs were removed from his skin, then was evaluated at a mental hospital before being jailed on suspicion of being drunk in public and resisting an officer.